When my grandmother Eular was younger, it was normal for kids to be left home alone. She would tell all her grandkids stories about growing up in Carro, Illinois. Stories that she swore were 100% true. This is one of them.

One day she was home alone watching TV. Both of her parents were working and her siblings were out with their friends. She heard a knock at the door, she ignored it of course. The number one rule when you’re home alone is never answer the door.

She was about to turn the channel when she heard yelling at the door, ‘TIMOTHY, TIMOTHY, ANSWER THE DOOR!’ Why is someone screaming for Timothy? (Timothy is her brother’s name.) She got up and went to the door.

The thing about my grandmother’s house was there were two doors. The one at the top led to dark, creaky stairs, the light was always out so at night it was hard to see each step as you went down. The other door was at the bottom of the stairs that led to the outside. She hated it; the outside door was made of glass with a torn curtain; you can see out and others can see in.

On her way down the stairs she saw nothing. She could hear the knocking and yelling, but there was literally no one at the door. She opened it, and a woman in all black stood at the door, “Umm who are you, and why are you yelling for my big brother?”

The woman looked at her and tilted her head, she looked dazed and scared. “I need Timothy, I can’t go without Timothy,” the woman started crying. She dropped to the floor and just kept crying.  What the heck was she supposed to do? My grandmother looked around and then she said: “My brother isn’t here, I don’t know what’s wrong but you’ll have to come back when he’s here.”

The women stopped crying and stood up so fast my grandmother got whiplash. “I CAN COME BACK!” the women yelled and smiled. “I guess…” she trailed the sentence off, not really knowing what the women wanted to hear.

The women turned around and ran down the three steps leading to the street. My grandmother blinked and she was gone. Confused, she looked around and poked her head out the door. What? she thought.

Tired, she turned around and closed the door. Halfway up the stairs, the front door flew open.

“Eular!” her mom screamed. She was scared and jumped, almost falling down the stairs.

 “What!” What the heck is going on?“We have to go. Timothy and his girlfriend were in a car accident; the girlfriend didn’t make it.”